Potential
by Gnimaerd
Summary: Of you fallen fairytales, let me tell you a story about a young god who boarded a train to meet his potential and rejected him. Let me tell you how he was guarded by his death, though that word was only was used in a certain context. Let me tell you this story...


_(A little tale of why you don't sell your soul to death.)_

* * *

Light exited out of a train, walking through little shops and turns _(A man who grasped blindly at the glowing young god who was killing him slowly, trying to live for something he did not quite understand_) His eyes stared blankly ahead (_Dreaming of pens and a black notebook, filled with names and apples with cyanide seeds)_ while he walked mindlessly, mechanically into the harsh bustle of a crowded tunnel.

People brushed against him, intent on getting to their next stop; Light was reminded that the tunnel was rather small for such a busy passageway, that humanity was tight and enclosing and always grasping with a swift, greedy fist-!

Suddenly, the tide of humans lightened and Light was left to walk around an empty tunnel to catch his train. Meanwhile, Ryuk was laughing at something. "Is there something funny?" He asked quietly, shifting his eyes around. (_Cold red eyes with the density of rubies and the fluidity of fire)_

Ryuk only cackled and pointed a sharp finger at a empty stop ahead...His stop. How strange, it was usually packed... but no, the empty tunnel... "You're gonna miss your ride, Light."

Strangely, the innocent gesture sounded loaded. Light frowned a bit, brushed it off and walked down a staircase of steps. Distantly, he heard the rattle of the subway. "Odd that you should say that, as it's just arriving...Ryuk," He murmured casually.

More laughter, and Light's vague suspicions were confirmed somewhat.

Soon enough, it began screeching to a stop. And every single compartment was packed fit to burst...Except for one; One in front of him. It housed a single inhabitant. Which gender it was, he couldn't truly tell; It's face was hidden by a sheet of chestnut brown hair.

Still, he felt a slight shiver go down his spine as he sensed the true oddness of such an instance. For the love of god, it was Japan. They hired people to shove in passengers for the _early_ hours of Shibuya, never mind the rest of the time-And a whole compartment where only one person was in it? The rest packed to the gills? Unbelievable...

He began walking towards one of the soon-to-open doors, Ryuk's laughter ringing in his ears.

Then, what he saw of the inhabitant make him really make a double-take.

She was holding a cigarette with a lazy grin; A normal-looking girl living in Japan for the most part. (For a moment, his heart leapt with relief.) But that lazy grin transformed into something sharp and filled with ironic hilarity when she saw him, transforming her features into something bright, demonic and ageless.

The doors open, and almost subconsciously, he stepped in the doorway and heard the doors slide shut behind him. (_Crash, goes the glass in the kitchen. The bait has been taken...)_

He was trying to reason with himself as he did so, not quite sure why he was doing this at all-Except there was a terrible sense of familiarity that was setting off alarm bells. (_Like when you look at yourself in the shattered glass you just stepped in)_

He just barely put up his pleasant mask for the world to see before he caught sight of her features again. Eerily, there wasn't even a whisper of sound to be found from the Shiinigami next to him-A stark contrast to his hearty laughter from a little while ago.

And she was smiling that lazy smile again, but her eyes were bright with the smile she gave previously, making her seem nearly mad. (_Or perhaps reminding him of Godhood and Ryuk's delighted laughter_) He smiled back, all the same... "May I sit down here?" He gestured to the bench she was lounged in.

She waved her cigarette at him, as if to say "Go ahead." _(A careless dismissal, as if he wasn't even worth bothering about)_

They sat in silence for a while after he settled in. Soon, light from a dying red sunset shone through the windows and they were out of the black tunnels of the underground.

Eventually, Light broke the ice. "What is your name?" (_Give me your favor)_

She tilted her head back, letting the remaining dregs of sunlight shine briefly through her hair as she blew smoke upwards, eyes half-lidded. "Light," She said in English, letting a maniacal grin cross her face before it faded, gone like the smoke in the wind.

_(Give me your Justice)_

Light blinked. "Yes?" he answered back carefully, in the same language.

Now she turned to look at him, disdainful and slightly affectionate, as if you had to watch a friend bumble around but you still loved them all the same. "My name is Light, Mr. Kira." _(As if she was disappointed in what she saw)_

Now Light was curious. "What makes you say-"

"You see this?" She had switched to Japanese, so his attention was drawn to her again. She was now pointing at her cigarette. Mystified, and rather miffed his question was ignored, he dumbly nodded.

"It's like Light." She said calmly. Light didn't know anymore if she was talking about the thing they were both named after, or if she was talking about herself-Or him.

"Light can be addictive. Light can be soft, like the paper on this. Light can be Kira, like the end of the cigarette." He wasn't quite sure still on who she was talking about, or why he was listening to her at all. _(Light like the dying sun setting in the trees, clouded by the smoke and the life of the city)_

"This is Light," she raised the cigarette, plunged it into her arm. Light winced at the audible hiss of the burn. "My arm is the world..." and with a careless grace, she tossed the now blunted object onto the carpeted floor.

"And that is Mu."

She smiled once more at him, that terrible smile that had caught his attention before. "I am Light-and you are Kira. I am undefinable, and you are defined. I am Light..." She looked at the streets below, apparently dismissing him. "And you will be ashes."

(_You are unworthy)_

With that, she got up from her seat. Suddenly, the train plunged into darkness and Light flinched, startled.

Moments later the light came on-Suddenly it was all people and doors opening, and the faint stench of sweat and thickly coated perfume accompanying them. Light could only sit in slight stupefaction, not quite understanding where she went, or what had gone on in the last few minutes.

"Hyuk, Hyuk, Hyuk." Ryuk's cold, rusty laugh echoed through the crowded compartment, only heard by one rather bemused human god. "Trick of the _Light_..."

"What do you mean, Ryuk?"

"She wasn't there."

_(Like Light, she was undefinable. Like Death, she was undefinable. Like Life, she was undefinable. Like Justice, she was undefinable. She was what he could've been, with all his potential. But Kira was Fire and quick to die.)_

_(Kira was ashes.)_


End file.
